Full text of "Official Dreamcast Magazine, The - Issue 00 (1999-06)(Imagine Publishing)(US)"

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Official #Sega 



liif] 



NEW! 



BIT GRAPHICS 



TO RIVAL REALITY 



K MODEM 

FOR INTENSE ONLINE GAMING 



, GAMES AT LAUNCH 

^ MORE THAN ANY OTHER SYSTEM EVER! 



\ 



9. 9. 99 

SEGA DREAMCAST GOES 



\ 



INSIDE! 

DREAMCAST 

NEWS 
PREVIEWS 
FEATURES 
REVIEWS 
AND MORE! 



imafirme 



\ 



1 ' ■ ! I ^W^^ 



Oreamcast 90210? Ott God, no 




WELCOME... 



....To the Official Seg^a Dreamcast Magazine- dedicated to the most power- 
ful and exciting videogames console in the world. Armed with a i28bit 
graphics engine and a modem that will allow you to surf the internet, play 
massively multiplayer games and even e-mail your buddies- Sega 
Dreamcast is in every way a next generation entertainment platform. 

It deserves a next generation magazine. 

Like the system, we're ahead of the game. Dedicated to bringing you the 
complete world of Dreamcast every issue, our promise to you is that we will 
woric tirelessly for the biggest exclusives- never flinching from asking the 
tough questions and never ever taking the PR line. We promise to furnish 
you with only the very best demos on our exclusive GD-ROM so that you can 
play before you pay and in our reviews we aim to set a new standard. 

We will never review a game until it's completely finished. And when it 
arrives in the office- we won't score it until we've played the whole thing 
through- from the start menu to the end sequence. 

But we're official, so we can't say what we want, right? Wrong. This maga- 
zine carries the official license from Sega because that's the best way to 
give you, the reader, the best value every issue, it means we can provide you 
with a disc full of free demos and uninhibited access to Sega's legendary 
and world-class development studios, it gives us the back-stage pass- and 
that's better for you. But the door only swings one way. Sega has absolute- 
ly no say in the content of this magazine. We are editorially independent- 
beholden to no-one. We answer only to you. 

So once again- welcome. Enfoy this sneak preview and join with us in look- 
ing forward to Septmeber, when the world's most powerful console hits the 
stores- coincidentally enough* just in time for issue One. Looks like 
Christmas is coming early... 



Simon Cox 
Editor In Chief 



DREAMCASTGI>-/70Af 



ELCOME 



iZSi 



/*^1 



^^^s^sm; 



SOf^tt'-ADVENTURE O 

V SPIN OUT IN EMERALD COAST ^^F 



it's much, much more. Simply pop 
the disc into your Dreamcast, p'^"* 
up, and you'll no longer just rei 
about the hottest forthcoming 
games in our pages - you can j 
ally play them weeks (and oftei 
months) in advance of their arri 
in stores. Every month, our dis< 
also provide exclusive video inl 

* views with important figures fn 
the world of Dreamcast, video 1 
throughs and strategies for the 
toughest games, downloadable — 

I VMU games, special saves, and cast 
i iron pick-up lines, 
f Plus, our special web browser 

I makes it easy to go online with your 
r Dreamcast and check out the muiti-i 

* tude of Internet-exclusive news 

* reports, contests, and other sp( 
; goodies we have to offer at oui 



f painting yourself blue and running 
around half-naked isn't your idea of 
fun, why not at least take control of 
someone who makes it their life's work? 
Yep, we're talking about Sonic the 
Hedgehog, star of this month's featured 
game on the DC-ROM. 

He's back in action after a nearly two 
year hiatus, and thanks to the modern 
miracle called the 'demo,' you can sam- 
ple the first level from his lat 
est outing in Sonic Adventure — 
- which, consequently, we've 
reviewed in full this issue r 

(Supertestp24). 



Enemy smashing, ring grabbing, a big 
fat guy named Robotnik... it's all there, 
but trust us, you'll want to refer to the 
controls diagram (see side panel) before 
jumping in spines-first. ^ 

Once you've mastered the ^ 

demo, jet on over to our website at ^ 
www.dreamcastmagazine.com and " 

see how your best time stacks up 
against your fellow obviously much 
slower - readers. 

Happy spinning, and ditch Tails oni* 
time for us. eh? 




"Run. Sonic, run!" Playing hard to 
get with a killer whale is risky 
business - but it sure looks great. 



Maintaining top speed through the 
stage is crucial, so no waiting 
around for that freakazoid fox. 



When dolphins attack! Sonic 
Adventured Emerald Coast 
wouldn't be right without them, 



HAymaTROUBLE? 



HOWrO... BLAST THROUGH STAGE ONE 



1-800-555-4357 



onic Adventure's demo stage on 
' this month's GD ROM contains a 
handful of hidden shortcuts that will 
shave precious seconds off your total 
time once uncovered. Fortunately, you 
won't have to poke around for them, as 
DCW has already done the legwork for 
you. 

The first of these top secret paths is 



Coast. Run along the steeply curved 
rock wall (alongside the waterfall) and 
make sure to stay as far up as possible, 
e small cave at its 
end. where a series of springboards will 
propel you ahead in the level. 

Another not-so-conventional short 



yards after the shortcut you 
just encountered. Getting the 
timing just right will bypass ' 

the corkscrew and send you 
straight through the tunnel's 
center. 

Finally, perform Sonic's spin dash at 
the base of the incredibly steep ramp 
you'll find after exiting the tunnel, and 
hold hard right as you reach its top. 
Keep holding right until you land on the 
beach below, and you'll have blown 
past an entire section of the stage. 

Publisher: Sega of America^ 
Contact: 1-800-555-73^,2 • 
Online: www.sega.cor" 



cut mvolves leaping the moment you rii 
the acceleration pads that lead into the 
"corkscrew cavern" about a hundred 



Analog Stick: Walk 



and run ^ 

D-Pad: Switcf 
a first-person t 
" It, enabling SonIC' 
around at his sur- 
'TOtJndings j 

"^"' mp (Tap again -^ 
e air to perfornfi. 
I attack) 
pin Dash 
Jin Dash 
3t Used 

'Dtate camera rlj' 
)tate camera le( 



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SEGAIMI.I.r2 

GET IN AND DRIVE! 



^s^ 



othing's more relaxing after a congested, 
_ _ stressful drive on the highway than firing up 
your Dreamcast and getting behind the wheel of 
another car - one that, unlike your own, can be 
rammed into opposing traffic without risk of bodily 
injury or irksome lawsuits. It's with this goal in mind 
that DCM has slapped a playable track from Sega 
Rally 2 onto this month's DC-ROM. 

Upon starting up the demo, you'll be presented 
with two cars: the 
Lancia 
Stratos and 
Toyota 
Ceiica. The 





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Itog stick: 1^ 
liog steering W^ 
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select menu iteir^^l 
lack up through 

land brake |^ 
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Stratos boasts the best acceleration of the two, 
while the Ceiica is an all-around good handler. 
Whichever you choose, you won't be caught short of 
horsepower - these cars tear up the gravel with 
Batmobile-like ease. 

Once you've mastered every twist and turn of 
the demo course, speed on over to DCM's website 
at www.dreamcast magazine.com and upload your 
best time for comparison against those of your fel- 



VIVIUD0IV/VI04D5 



SONIC 



c# rc^fvf vnc^ 



n 



We've bred this pint- 
! 



ur racing skills up to snuff in our How 
section, which starts on page 30. 









Publisher: Sega of America 
Contact: 1-800 555-7342 
Online: www.sega.com 



Ready, set, go! Keep the pedal to 
the metal and you'll have no 
problem leaving your competi- 
tion in the dust. 



Practicing proper cornering tech- 
nique is essential to winning, but 
nudging other cars off the track 
never hurts, eh? 



Hurtling full-throttle into pud- 
dles will muddy your car - just 
don't let this cool effect distract 
you from the track ahead. 



WATCI 



EXCLUSIVEI>i7£4/irC>l5rGAMESPi7EWEII^ 



y compliment DCM's extensive 
Tokyo Game Show coverage which 
starts on page 6. this issue's GD-ROM is packed to 
the gills with exclusive video footage from every single 
Dreamcast game displayed at the three-day Japanese 



sized dynamo with 

only the best and most 

skilled of Sonic's animal 

pals to instill in him light- 
ening fast speed, not to mention 
dashing good looks. Just don't tell your 
friends where you got him, eh? 

To get our extra-special Chao onto your 
VMU. first select the "VMU Downloads" 
option from the main menu of the GD- 
ROM. Now highlight "Super Chao/ hit the 
"A" button, and he'll be downloaded and 
ready to race in no time flat. For 
more information on Sonic*s 
cute comrades, be sure to read 
our Sonic Adventure Su|»titMt 
review, which starts on page 24. 






PROFILE 

In the DCM hot seat 
this month is Bernie 
Stolar, president and 
chief operating office 
of Sepa of America. 



.^. 



minute clip and accompanied by our running commentary. 



So. if you're in the mood for a sneak peak at the games of 
2000, go for the **Watch It!" option on the DC-ROM's main 
menu and grab yourself some popcorn. 

Viewing pointers: Hitting the "A" button will pause the 



^. --r 



event - many of which you'll see previewed in these pages video, and hitting "B" kicks you back out to the game 



in the coming months. 

From Sega's Shenmue to From Software's Frame Gride, 
each of the more than 25 games is represented by a two- 



selection menu. Pressing "Y" will bring up a VCR style con 
trol that lets to move frame-byframe though those extra- 
special moments. 



Frame Gride: Watch it on the disc now! 




• 



Editor In Chief 
SIMONCOX 

Art Director 
QREQORYI#4^ 

Senior Editor 

mMmrNELsoN 

Reviews Editor 
FRANCESCA/7Er£S 





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016SEGA'S 024 SONIC 

SHENMUE ADVENTURE 



APVERTISINQ 



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CHtIS POVIO r»«lwMl aavvrNalnt mwtogvr 



IT'S TAKEN FOUR YEARS AND OVER 
20 MILLION DOLLARS - AND THERE'S 
STILL A WAY TO GO YET. WE BRING 
YOU THE FULL STORY ON THE GAME 
THAT COULD CHANGE THE WAY YOU 
PLAY FOREVER 



SONIC SPINS BACK INTO ACTION! 
WE RATE THE GAME THAT YOU CAN'T 
AFFORD TO MISS - PLUS! THE LOW- 
DOWN ON THE LEVELS, THE SECRETS, 
THE CONTROLS, AND HOW TO BREED 
YOUR OWN A-LIFE 'CHAO' THING! 



PRODUCTION 



MOtAftO UtOVOV p«Wwctt*n dtrMtM 
MSI UttUTlA praAtcHwi c»M^rwt«r 



IMAGINE MEDIA. INC. 



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020 FEATURE 

DREAMCAST 

101 

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO 
KNOW ABOUT DREAMCAST BUT WERE 
AFRAID TO ASK. WELL, ALMOST... 



i^tj Fil i^i li >n J M 



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JUNEI999ISSUEO 





SEGA DRE AMCASTNEM'SNETW 

1/ 





UFTOFF! 

FOR DREAMCAST AT TOKYO GAME SHOW 



As well as giving the world its first 
taste of Shenmue, the Tolcyo 
Game Show played host to around 
fifty other forthcoming Dreamcast 
games - demonstrating plenty of third- 
party commitment for the system. 
Sega knows that for Dreamcast to suc- 
ceed, it needs to cover a number of 
popular genres • namely driving, fight- 
ing, sports and RPGs and they were all 
well provided for (and a few decidedly 
odd Japanese ones besides - see side 
panel). 

As the surging tide of Japanese 
gaming press flooded into the cav- 
ernous Makuhari Messe convention 
center. DCM used its long-legged 
Gaijin advantage to break early for the 
Sega booth, arriving seconds before 
the hordes and securing a stint on 
Shenmue- Sega genius designer YU 
Suzuki's epic action adventure. 

We are happy to report that 
Shenmue is only months from comple- 
tion, and is visually amazing. There's 
so much to say about Shenmue, in 
fact,that we have dedicated our lead 
preview to what we saw at the show. 
To get the full scoop, turn 
to page 16, and then come ^H^ 




S«fa*s booth was once again the center of attention, with top tHles Shenmue, Soul Catlbur, 
and The House of the Dead 3 pulling the crowds • consisting mostly of journalists. Ylkes! 



back here for the low-down 






Tecmo's Dead or Alive 2 gave 
Shenmue a run for its money in the 
'wow' department (located just to 
the left of the 'huh?' department). It 
looks amazing. 



on the other hot Dreamcast 
titles that lit up the Sega booth. 

MEN TIGHTS 

Namco weighed in with its superb 
arcade conversion of fighting game, 
Soul Callbur, to make good on the 
promise it made to support Sega as 
long ago as last September. The char- 
acter models are a generation ahead 



of those in Sega's own Virtua Fighter 
3tb, and it drew a great deal of inter- 
est from the press - as much- if not 
more, than the 2D Marvel v$ Capcom, 
which ran along side it. Capcom's title 
may not look like a technical. 
erm...'marver. but the oversized 
sprites and detailed cartoon anima- 
tions make it the best example yet of 
its kind. 

As for that other Capcom fran- 
chise- Bhhazord - all that what shown 
of Code: Veronica was a couple of min- 
utes of video. They were great min- 
utes, featuring giant spiders and the 
usual assortment of humans welt past 
their expiration dates, but no-ones 



saying when playable code will be 
available. 

Sega took care of those who like 
their fights a little less improvised with 
Giant Gram wrestling which was good 
for a laugh.The only real disappoint- 
ment was SNK's King of Fighters 
Match S999 -which was still funny- but 
in a 'laughing at it, not with if sort of 
way. The crappy resolution of the 
sprites, coupled with severely dated- 
looking animation make it an excel- 
lent candidate for next issue's Disc 
Inferno. 

Flying the flag for sports were 
Let's Make A Frafessionai Baseball 
Team and Soccer Team games from 



AfEIKSCAST^^ SNK announced that its handheld Neo Geo Pocket Color system will be coming to the States this month 



6 



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HOTllKfSAKE 




Sega, which play well enough and 
mix management strategy with 
arcade style action. 

GET WID'/r 

Coin-op conversion Get Bass was 
also pulling the crowds (well, at 
least three people stopped and 
stared at it, and two picked up the 
controller and made fishing faces) 
and Sega provided 
its new controller, 
which we can report 
is everything a fish- 
ing controller 
should be. No-one 
here fishes, so it's a 
little hard to tell, 
but it had the reel 
and you could turn 
it, which seems 
about right. It even 
smelled fishy 
(although that 
could have been the 
sushi lunch packs). 
DCM comman- 
deered Konami's 
Air Farce Delta, 
looking forward to 
some Top Gun dog- 
fights, only to find a 
pretty average 
knock-off of 
Namco's arcade hit 
Ace Combat A competent, but shal- 
low start for Konaml. 

HEMyMETAL 

Still the most popular giant 
robot/mech franchise in the country 
(and pretty popular on the world- 
wide Anime circuit too), the 30 year 
old Gundam illicits a huge turnout 
wherever it rears its metallic head in 
japan. Which explains the crush sur- 
rounding Gundam SideStary. 
Blending first-person mech combat 
with third-person stomping-around, 
Bandai has captured well the feel of 
marching about the landscape in 
200 tons of steel. 

The same goes for From 



Software's Frame Gride, which 
showed potential. This arena-based 
robot combat game was running 
online via the Dreamcast's 33.6Kb 
built in modem - pitching you 
against unknown opponents from 
one of the other demo stations on 
the booth - which made the one-on- 
one combat particularly engaging- 
and personal. 

With fighting, wrestling, sports, 
fiying and driving games all neatly 
accounted for- as well as gun games 
(in the form of the complete and 
superb The House of The Dead 2) 
only one genre remained underrep- 
resented- first person action. 
Regrettably, the only one available 
was Maken X from Atlus- a textbook 
example of how not to do it. featur- 
ing plodding controls, poorly ani- 
mated characters and less atmos- 
phere than the moon on a particular- 
ly quiet Sunday evening. 

HELLO 

The real star of the show, however 
(at least in terms of visuals)and the 
perfect remedy to Maken X, was 
undoubtedly Tecmo's Dead or Alive 2 
■ which looked absolutely stunning. 
Shown on a giant screen at Tecmo's 
booth, the game boasts the most 
incredibly complex character mod- 
els. The detail of the in-game mod- 
els is just breathtaking - way ahead 
of Sega's own Virtua Fighter jtb- 
and significantly better than even 
Namco's Soul Calibur. The version in 
the movie is currently running on 
Sega's Dreamcast-based arcade 
board, Naomi, so expect the home 
version to match the coin-op pixel- 
for-pixel. For more on this title, turn 
to page 8. 

With just four months to go 
before the US launch, the Tokyo 
Game Show proved that Dreamcast 
is just now beginning to reveal its 
potential as the greatest games 
machine ever made. Sega's promise 
of at least ten top-tier titles for the 
US launch is right on target. 





" If I can just reach that fishing controller, 
maybe I can use it to defeat the evil genius 
Dr. Octopus! Or t could just play Get Bass 
until my brain turns to Ramen...** 




Capcom has a strong show with the com- 
plete Manftt vs Capcom and more video 
footage of BiotHUord Code: Veronica. Still 
no word on a release date beyond '1999* 



Shenmue: Fully playal»lt 
at the show, with breath- 
taking visuals and plenty 




Dead orAilve 3: Shown 
on video only- it> the 
most Impresshfe looking 
Dreamcast title yet 




5oulCaUbur:n%mta 
comes good wKh this 
Incrediole arcade conver- 
sion 




Air Forte Delttt: \Mi\ 
Konami demit with a 
average arcade title 



very 






maken X: Not yet fin- 
ished, but already looking 
like a complete oisaster 



%'■ 




•^ 


^ 
/' 


^^■*f-ns:* J5, 



Klna of fighters Dream 
Itch 1999: A nigtitmare! 



Mat 



* 



'COLD1./KESUSHI 



priced at $80 and can be linked to the Dreamcast via a cable ^^Core Design announced Fighting Force 2 for Dreamcast ^^ 



BOUHCVNGBACK 

DEAD OR ALIVE 2 TAKES FIGHTING GAMES 
- AND VIRTUAL PIN-UPS - TO THE NEXT LEVEL 

H A'c. M v\orK on Vega's DredmL»ibl unvf n Nitotm ariaoe Haiowafe, ttie uiifilt-u ^lllil .li 

Tecmo - more specificallv. the keenly-named "Team Ninja* - are lending their fighting game 
know-how to a fabulous looking sequel to 32bit fighting favorite Dead or Alive. Boasting the 
mo^\ exquisitely detailed characters yet seen in a fighting title (which, consequently, have been 
1 entirely by hand - yes, even their bouncy bits). Dead or Alive 2 also makes strides in 
ig the 3D fighting arena itself. Rather than simple walledin affairs, the stages are utte- 
ly vast. Many include whole annexes into which the melee spills over, whether by throwing your 
opponent through windows or off waterfalls. Like Virtua Fighter stb, DOA2 also features tag 
team play. but. unlike Sega's fighter, your partners are always visible on the sidelines and can 
10 into battle mid-match without so much as a stutter. 




"Gnnnr! Gnnnr! Gnnnr 
did you say?" Hulk Hogan\ 
double. Bass, tests his latest 
pick-up line on Kasumi. Guess 
what happens next... 



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It's Spice Girls 
wannabes versus Power 
Ranger clones in a battle 
for the future of fashion. 
Let's hope they both 
lose, eh? 



SOUL CALIBUR UNDERGOES A SIGNIFICANT TUNE-UP FOR DREAMCAST 

attack, training, spectator, and Vfrtua Fighter stb-Wke tag- 
team play. Namco is confident of the title's success, and 
chances are good that it may be the first of many from the 




Hugely popular in arcades. Namco*s third 3D 
weapons-based fighter is officially - and 
exclusively - bound for Dreamcast release. 
Namco unveiled a fully-playable version of 
Soul Catibur at Tokyo Game Show this 
March, and the bevy of promised 
Dreamcast'only enhancements were already in 
play. Vastly improved character detail 
and animation are the most prominent 
byproducts of the re-tooling, although the 
rock-solid 60 frames- per-second game- 
play is certainly not to be discounted. 
Also to be expected in the final product are 
five new play modes: versus, survival, time 



company for Dreamcast in coming months. 




SmitCi 



tter visuals, more features than coln-op. 



BACKfOTHE 
FUTURE 

ft*^ obvious that 
someone at UK- 
based Criterion Studios 
has fond memories of 
Back to the Future 2, as 
its first Dreamcast 
game, Velocity: 
Trickstyle, borrows 
heavily from the film to 
create an experience 
that*s two parts Top 
Skater and one part 






Wipeout. \Vs the 
year 2066. and 
the world's popu- 
lation has taken 
up anti-gravity 
racing as a means 
to combat the 
boredom brought 
on by global 
peace. Nine char- 
acters are selectable, 
and racing takes place 
in four locales - London. 
New York, Cairo, Tokyo - 
each holding a myriad of 
shortcuts to uncover. 
Tricks are central to the 
package, and it's with 
this in mind that a four- 
player half-pipe mode is 
In the cards, with online 
play between Dreamcast 
and PC players also a 
distinct possibility. 




Racing luge-style yields 
more speed, while going 
head-first allows for 
basic conibaL 



STO^ raiSSI Sega president and COO Bemie Stolar has confirmed a price and date for US Dreamcost - $199 on 9/9/99 ^^ 



8 




SONOFAGUN 

Shiny has singled out 
Canadian developer 
BioWare to deliver a 
Dreamcast follow-up to 
its darlcly comedic action 
game, MDK. 
Unlike its predecessor, 
MDK2 has you controlling 
three distinct characters 
over the course of its 
nine stages. Hero of the 
first game, Kurt Hectic 
returns. Armored Coil 
Suit intact, he comes into 
play for stages where 
stealth and pin-point 
accuracy are needed. 
Joining Kurt is his jet- 
paclc-donning dog Max, 
who can wield up to four 
weapons simultaneously. 
Rounding out the tot is 
the elderly Dr. Hawkins, 
who excels at combining 
items MocGt/yver-style to 
create exotic super- 
weapons. MDK2 remains 
a purely single- player 
affair. "We're trying to go 
for more of a story-based 
action-adventure game. 
more so than MDKi 
was," says BioWare co- 
founder Greg Zeschuk. In 
development concurrent- 
ly with the PC version. 
MDK2 will premiere 
simultaneously on both 
formats this September. 
■| think the Dreamcast 
version will in some ways 
be the best looking of the 
two, since that's the one 
we're spending the most 
time optimizing," 
Zeschuk surmises. 




MDKi: videogame or love 
child of Timothy Leary and 
H.R. Geiger? Answers on a 
postcard, pltase. 



II00PIME4/MS 

NBA BASKETBALL 2000 DRIVES FOR ULTRA-REALISM 

^^een to provide an unprecedented breadth of available genres at Dreamcast's launch, Sega has committed to 
l\ delivering a second sports title along with the system this September. As with NFL Football 2000, NBA 
Basketball 2000 is developed by Visual Concepts, and with the same ultimate goal in mind: ultra-realism. The game 
boasts more than four times the motion-captured moves per player of any 
other basketball title, detailed facial animation, and true-to-life ball and col- 
lision physics. Sega also promises more than 400 individually modeled 
players, polygonal 
coaches and offi- 
cials, and 28 indi- 
vidually modeled 
stadiums. Add in 
brisk 60 frames- 
per-second game- 
play, and we may 
just be looking at 
the most realistic 

hoops game to ^^^^^^^^"""^MPVI^^^^H ^^^ ^^^^^ * ^>"*« O"^* Presumably 

^^^®- l^B^^^^^^m m. ^SmW'^^^^^^ from the filming of Kazam! 2, to fea- 

ture in the most jaw-droppingly 
realistic basketball simulation ever. 





WRIST4Cr/0/V 

~ s the latest addition to 
Casio's growing line of G- 
Shock timepieces, the sky 
blue DW-9000 G-Lide repre- 
sents the pinnacle of -- 
sports watch design. 
It features a back- 
lit display, multi- ! 
function alarm, V " 
stopwatch, and cal- 1 
endar- in other 
words, it's never been 
easier to manage life in 
between rounds with your 
favorite Dreamcast games. It's 
also waterproof to 200 meters 
and tough as nails, so even 
when you're sleeping with the 
fishes, it won't be. 

Price: $140 
Manufacturer: Casio 
Contact: www.casio.com 



KKKOFF 



SEGA HITS THE FIELD WITH NFL 
FOOTBALL 2000 

Football games have become a 
yearly staple since the massive 
success of EA's Madden on Genesis, 
but never has one been available 
immediately at the launch of a new 
system. When Dreamcast makes its 
way onto US shelves this 
September, it will be accompanied 
by Sega's first football title since the 
i6bit days, and early glimpses suggest it 
may usher in a new level of realism for the 
genre. This unprecedented realism is gener- 
ated via players that possess more than 
1.300 motion-captured moves apiece, polyg- 
onal sideline crowds, and 32 painstakingly 
re-created stadiums - right down to the 3D 
spectators. Sega also plans to include an 
on-the-fly play editor which utilizes the 
Dreamcast VMU as a personal viewing screen, 
so your opponent won't see the plays you're 
running against them. 




Hyper- realistic physics 
and player animation are 
a given, but what about 
the beer and pork rinds? 



Cool Boarders from UEP Systems will hit Japan in June, featuring trick, trial, and half-pipe modes plus two-player racing 



9 



FANTASYiZOAi^ 




TIMEIVIUTELL 




CLIMAX LANDERS IS COMING. TIME TO DIG OUT THOSE PIXIE EARS 



One of the most anticipated 
titles for both US and 
Japanese gamers is Climax's 
latest role-playing effort, Climax 
Landers. Close to release in Japan. 
Landers borrows both concepts and 
characters from its own back-catalog 
of RPGs. while promising to offer some 
new features . Responsible for 
Landstatker on the Genesis and Dark 
Savior on the Saturn. Climax has 
earned a strong reputation from RPG 
fans and the company's first trip into 
Dreamcast territory looks to uphold it. 
At the game's forefront stands the 
hero, whose expert handling of the 
blade grants him his moniker Sword. 
Possessing an innate ability for a spe- 
cial type of magic. Sword is chosen by 
an elder in his village to solve the rid- 
dle of his homeland. Apparently, much 
to the dismay of the citizens residing 
on the group of three small continents, 
the world of Climax Landers is also 
home to a space-time shift that has 
the power to warp characters back and 
forth through history. As a result. 
Sword is able to travel to different 



Q&A 



The muUi-talented Sword of Landers' fame will have a chance to time travel (topj 
fight large bird creatures (bottom left) and chat up some girls (bottom right). 



One of my favorite games on the 
S.iturn continues to be Pan/er 
Dragoon Saga. My question is, now 
with the news that Team Andromeda 
ti>is parted ways with SEGA, can we 
still expect any sequels to the game 
on the Dreamcast or does Team 
Andromeda own intellectual rights to 
iu' franchise? 

PDS is one of our favorite Stn 
('(js as well, and you can expc( t 
"i,it Sega won't be hailing prodn 
tion on any kind of sequels to th. 
game simply because the develo* 
ment team has disbanded. Sega still 
n'tains all the rights to the series 
.ind therefore, there's nothing pff 
venting them from delivering a 
Dreamcast Pan/er Dragoon Sagu -. 
i)h and by the way you're not real 
,ire you? You're just a made up lettt't 
tot the purposes of this prototyp< 



periods, including 1980's Japan and 
prehistoric sites. Therefore, you can 
fully expect to be standing in the 
check out line of a convenience store 
one moment, and speaking with 
princesses and knights the next. 

Incorporating randomly-generated 
dungeons similar in concept to those 
in ESP's Evolution, Climax's president, 
Hiroshi Naito comments that "dun- 
geons change each time you enter 
them. You enter each dungeon as a 
beginner and progressively power up." 
That said, you'll need as much help as 
possible from Sword's party members 
which include such esteemed RPG 
alumni as Lyle the elfin thief from 
Climax's Genesis action-RPG 
Landstalker, as well as Marlin, a mage 
who made her debut in Shining in the 
Darkness. Also onboard is Lady (the 




female martial 
artist from the 
Japan-only 
Ladystalkedf Rao 
(a half-human, halMion 
warrior) and Marion (a 
wooden female puppet). 

Combat appears to 
be more action-oriented 
than most RPGs from the 
early versions of Landers which 
would make sense; Climax has 
made its name for the most part off 
the success of its action RPGs in the 
past. And with full VMU support for 
more than 10 mini-games that allow 
players to swap monsters that they've 
captured as well as participating in 
breeding and "casino-type" activities. 
Climax Landers is a sure bet for US 
release. Can't wait. 



Dreamcast's other big RPG on 
the horizon comes courtesy of the 
company responsible for some of 
the most successful and beloved 
role-playing titles on the Saturn. 
GameArts. Barring the system-sell- 
ing achievement of Red Co.'s 
Sakura Taisen series. GameArts* 
character-driven RPG, Grandia, was 
a compelling reason to own a 
Saturn and learn Japanese. 
Following the adventures of Justin 
and his childhood friend. Sue, 
Orandia's massive world and clever 
battle system wooed gamers and 
the game firmly entrenched itself in 
the hallowed halls of classic RPGs. 
Now with Dreamcast. GameArts 
is set to do it all again. But, this 
time around with the system's 
incredible processing speed and 
polygon power, gamers can expect 
nothing short of a graphical show- 
case. Not only do the screenshots 
show off impressive lighting effects 
and detailed character designs, 
GameArts has also announced that 
Grandia II will support two players. 
How this feature will be implement- 
ed into gameplay is unknown,how- 
ever. it is known that the sequel 
takes place four years after the 
original with many of the main 
characters returning in more 
mature form. Slated for a 
summer release in Japan, you 
probably won't see it here 
in time for the launch. 
Christmas? Maybe. 




one or the most anticipat- 
< in nreamctst's line«ip, 
a lot to Ihft up to. 



^ u :ii 



10 




ARC 

SEGAJOW-O 




CRAZY 



"YOU TALKIN' TO ME? THERE'S NOBODY ELSE HERE..." 



Freedom within a bustling city is the core 
appeal of the latest coin-op from Sega's 
Japanese labs. Crazy Taxi chucks you in the seat 
of a bright yellow open-top cab in San Francisco 
and offers one objective - to pick people up at 
the roadside and get them to their chosen desti- 
nation as swiftly as possible. Reckless driving is 
not appreciated by some passengers, though - a 
lower tip is their way of letting you know. 
Packed with pedestrians and dense with other 
traffic, we found there's a tendency to career 
around the city trying to ram as much as possible 
at first. But as with LA Riders, progress can only 
be made by hunting out shortcuts (often narrow 
one-way streets) and accruing as many time 
bonuses as possible. Funnily enough, the urban 
humor and garish hues of Crazy Taxi also reminds 
slightly of age old Atari skateboarding classic 
720*- perhaps no coincidence since the creator's 
previous project was the excellent skateboarding 
Sim Top Skater. 



echnicatty there are few differences 
I between Oreamcast and Naomi apart from 
an extra amount of RAM on the motherboard 
and the code being mounted in ROM. instead 
of on CD. This means that the conversion 
process is relatively straightforward and only 
tweaks such as reducing the number of tex- 
tures are required for it to run on Dreamcast. 
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect though 
is that Naomi is cheap and is therefore facili- 
tating slightly greater creative risks within 
Sega. Apart from planned multi-screen efforts 
such as Airline Pilots and Ferrari 355, some 
titles (the first will be CurT b'o-v Ai: Upon 
Pro Wrestling .) will even feature cross com- 
patibility between the Dreamcast's VMS and 
the coin-op - simply plug your VMS into the 
arcade cabinet and your favorite trained char- 
acters will become active on the big screen. 
Sega says a further two or three games will 
utilize this cross-fertilization of code this year. 



In terms of handling, the ultra fast and comi- 
cally exaggerated dynamics of Crazy Taxi make 
Sega Rally look like a lesson in simulating car 
physics. Employing some of the most exaggerat- 
ed driving moves yet seen in a racer, power- 
slides, jumps and even acceleration/braking 
combos are possible while you're weaving in and 
out of the traffic trying to keep a cool head. It's 
all very 70s cop show car chase. And it works a 
treat. 

But this Is no slouch in the visual department 
either. Packing Naomi technology under its hood 
(see box-out), Crazy Taxi is perhaps the best evi- 
dence yet of just how good Sega's new console is 
at throwing polygons around the screen. Streets 
unravel in to the distance with minimum pop-up 
and everything runs at a silky 
smooth 6ofps, but where it 
really scores in its use of realis- 
tic lighting and shadows - try 
and find another game that 




^^■LA^ 





mn^,: 



^^■mm 



S«ga*s Cmiy Taxi: You race around the city picking up fares and dropping them off at their destinations in as little time as possible. The 
best fares are usually the most difficult to get to. but pay more. There\ a time-limit, of course, and it's best if you don*t try to mow 
them down with your taxi- at least not before they Ve paid the bill. Expect this one to arrive on Dreamcast before the year Is out. 



11 



^^'_ 



T in if 

NEWSHETVUORK 



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▼ 






JAPAN 



.11.1 iij.i.iiiii.i.iiiiiiiiiiii^iaaiiiiaaaaaaaJ 



^imri/niQAMEurlHEMONTH 
" ' GET BASS 

It's either your idea of heaven or officially the 
least interesting sport this side of the Seniors Lawn 
Bowling Tour. Whichever side you find yourself on when it 
comes to fishing, Get Bass will have you dreaming of elec- 
tric, er... fish for weeks to come. 

Currently only available on import. Sega's bass fishing 
sim is a pixel-perfect port of its arcade classic of the same 
name with an added 'consumer mode* featuring extended 
multi-stage tournaments , the option to fish as the fairer 
sex and access to your very own tackle box. 

Not convinced? Play it. and you'll be (ahem) hooked. 
With the time limit ticking down, and the ever present dan- 
ger of losing a big catch. Get Bass is a lot more exciting 
than you might at first assume. Catch a 'Big One!' and you'll 
realize just how satisfying a game can get. Lose one, and 
you'll get right back in there for another go - every time. 

But for the ultimate thrill-ride (or what passes for 
thrills in the fishing community), you should buy the bun- 
dle and get your hands on the fishing controller. It has a lit- 
tle gyroscope hidden inside for detecting your arm move- 
ments so that you can cast your line without using a button. 
Of course, you look sort of stupid doing it, unlike real fish- 
ing (apparently). 

Price Y58oo($5o) 
Developer Sega 
Publisher Sega 
Origin: |apan 
Online: No 
Multiplayer: No 
Peripherals: VMU. 
Fishing Controller 



DC lAPAN 

.GAMING NJWS FROM JHEJOKYO.B^^^ 

IMAGE ROCESSING 

S«ga's current wave of ads in japan are something of a departure from previous cam- 
paigns and feature Sega General Manager Yukawa Hidekazu trapped in a sinister daydream 
where children are not what they seem. Below is a translation of this latest media salvo- along 
with our own interpretation of events... 




Translation: Hidekazu 
appears on a mountain-top- 
dressed, in a Savitie Row suit 
with some children 

DCM dub: "Hello. I'm looking 
to buy some children for a top 
secret government project 
Akira." 



Appearing friendly, they lull 
the charming Hidekazu into a 
false sense of security. "Sega 
has changed", they cry. " 
Really?" replies Hidekazu 

"You can have my sister for 
loo Yen. She's the one in the 
yellow hat." 



Suddenly- their eyes turn 
black and they scream: "No! 
it's a joke! We don't need 
Sega- we want PlayStation!" 



"No! You can't have herl You 
can't buy any of us! 
We're...Children of the Com!" 




Oh no! Hidekazu has been 
duped by demons! 

"Children of the Corn! Oh no! 
I wish 1 had a big hole in the 
ground to jump into!" 



Suddenly, the ground opens 
up and swallows ladies-man 
Hidekazu 

As if by magic... 




His secretary has caught 
the worldly Hidekazu sleep- 
ing on the job... 

Luckily, his fall is broken t>y 
an exact replica of his own 
office. 



"Are you okay? * she asks. ' 
Yes," he replies. 

"The Children of the Com 
an here to see you. Mr 
Hidekazu. " 



Hidekazu reflects on his 
nightmare. 

"Perhaps this giant logo will 
protect me?" He thinks, 
emerging from the desk. 




12 



SMHEDIFFERENCE 

Okay- so we admit it. there are other 

Dreamcast magazines worth looking at 

on the planet- but they're in japan. The 

magazine market over 

there now supports 

four different 

Dreamcast magazines - 

the best two of which 

we picked up while at 

the Tokyo Game Show. 

DC Dreamcast is Japan's 

official magazine for 

our beloved system and 

has been around since 

December of last year. 

Oddly, the free GDROM 

is packaged with 

Softbank's 'Dreamcast Magazine*- 

unofficial. but equally unrivalled in 

terms of news, previews and mad 

pages full of readers soft-porn Manga 

illustrations. And before you ask. no. 

Not ever. Keep them to yourself. 




TWO/lfOiVr//«WITHOUTrO/i.£7PAPER! 

If you thought the Truman Show or EDTV took tele- 
vision a step too far. then wait 'til you get a load of 
Japanese variety show Susunu Den pa Shonen (Don't go 
for It. Electric Boy!). Taking an unemployed comic named 
Nasubi (which translates as 'eggplant'), the show locked 
him in a room with his only sustenance for is months 
being whatever he could win through entering competi- 
tions in magazines, airing his plight for 15 minutes every 
Sunday night. His first several meals consisted of noth- 
ing more than the Tokyo equivalent of Alpo. and it took 
him months to win toilet paper. 

Spying an opportunity for a game. Tokyo-based 
publisher Hudson (tietter known for its hit Bomberman 
titles) has created the interactive Dreamcast version of 



the show - complete with a naked cartoon Nasubi- his. 
ahem, 'interactive* areas covered by - yep- an eggplant. 
We would usually be the first to bemoan the fact that 
Japanese games so rarely make the leap to the States, 
but in this case, we'd be sort of relieved if it didn't. 



mhM 



111 i'rtf mW 



DCEUROPE 

TRANS-ATLANTIC DREAMCAST NEWS 



DRIVERSir4/VrfP 

METROPOLIS STREET 
RACER GATHERS SPEED 







As Caiy Taxi (see page 11) 
demonstrates, the Next Big Thing 
when it comes to racing games is 
city driving. If 
you've ever wanted 
to take part in a 
real Hollywood car- 
chase, complete with screaming 
pedestrians, empty cardboard 
boxes and (inexplicably) chickens. 
then Metropolis Street Racer will 
take you there. 

Racing through London, San 
Francisco and Tokyo, you'll be 
screeching around over two square 
miles of map at each stage in one 
of twenty different licensed sports 
cars that include the Acura NSX. 
Ford Mustang and the Italian Rat 
Barchetta, as well as other assort- 
ed European and Japanese autos. 

We called Bizarre Creations 
producer Brian Woodhouse. and he 
explained the challenge thrown up 
by creating such an open road. He 
was on his cell phone doing about 
7omph on the freeway when we 



Follow that car! Metropolis Street Racer features cars from Europe, japan 
and the USA • and some of the most amazing lighting effects ever! 



called him up... 

BW: ' Racing around a city throws 
up many challenges..hang on a 
minute..' (screeching of brakes). 
DCM: 'Brian?' 

BW: 'Sorry. Now where were we? 
Challenges. The main one is how to 
maintain accuracy and a 'real city' 
feel without compromising the 
structure and playability of the 
game itself. You can use made up 
cities, like most games do. but 
we're doing real life, so you need to 
represent what's there, and there- 
fore the choice of which areas to 
model has to be really carefully 
considered - ' 

(A hair-raising thud and crunch fol- 
lowed by more screeching of 
brakes) 

DCM: 'Brian? Are 
you there?' 
BW: 'Sure. 
Sorry about 



that..l just hit, an erm..rabbit 
or something.' 

DCM: 'It musfve been a pretty 
big rabbit. Brian.We could 
hear the bump from here.' 
(Sirens) 

BW: 'Look- it's been nice talk- 
ing to you. but I have to go. 
Thanks for the opportunity 
and stuff. Bye,* 
(click.) 

DCM: 'Yeah, so 
long.* 

Metropolis 
Street Racer \s due 
out in September. Read our 
full preview of this stunning 
game next issue. 





EUROPE 



xlxlalilUililihl.liUUixliltl 



13 




SHINYA 



up clos^^personal with 








PROHLE 




L'lilly rockfting from lot^ 
icurity to high priority in 
'amcasl's most-wanted- 



Stinger is an all action, thirdperson 
shoot 'em up that takes Sega's console 
by the scruff of its nock and attempts to 
shake the best out of it. DCM met with 
producer Shinya Nishigaki at Climax's 
HQ to talk about Blue Stinger, 
Dreamcast and what the collision of the 
two will offer... j 

ACTI0N//£i70 

DCM: Wh.it do vou think B 



In terms of content, we wanted 



players to have the experience 



Shinya Nishigaki ; 
^'■lieve the most 
important thing is 



and Spielberg. But also the newer 
generation of directors such aslohn 



rpenter and joe Dante, plus 
specialists in visual effects. As for 
games. I entered the game industry 
because of Dragon Quest. I think the 
emotional parts of my game have be 
influenced by Dropon Quest. 



SN:Wr irly targeting people 



Who rent Hollywood movies durmg the 
weekend; people who do not have a 
great experience of games but who like 
fnovies. Because of that we wanted to 
make a movie like game with an e 
interface. 



e dellMHlbr 



^^^icapabilitiesofthe 
of a Hollywood movie in on Dreamcast graphics 



card. We wanted to 



interactive way." see how far we could 

1 push the Dreamcast 

in terms of realtime polygons. In terms , 
' of content, we wanted players to havii 

the experience of a Hollywood movie in 
an interactive way. Players will become 
the main character of an action movie 



SN; No half action, half adventure 



SN: When I was i2years old, I used tOs^jiH 
play with an 8mm camera, so naturally 
I'm a fan of movies. In japan it's 
impossible to make Hollywood-style 
movies - it's too expensive - but with 
computersmany things became ^, 
possible. All the stages of movre^vij^ 
production have become possible for 



SN: No. that's not our mtention. 
Influence from the visual effects in 
Hollywood movies is strong in Japan, 
too. It's not really a character game; 
Blue Stinger falls into a zenre that did 



not exist before in japan, j want to see 



as a new genre for japa 



WARPED 



SN; rj r Stinger \\\ 



creating a new genre. I played the 

original D I thought that more games 
like that would be a good thing for the 

ti'^inarket. I'd prefer to view D? as a 



^mm- 



SN: You can select two characters 
a 'standard* type and a 'hard* type, 
providing different game feelings. For 
■f;€xample, the combination of Elliot and 
Dogs - they use different weapons ar\C 
have very different characteristics. 



DCM: The game features some 
pretty spectacular explosions. How 
many types of weapon can you use? 
SN: There are eight different types of 
weapon, which you keep with you 
throughout the ganne. 

SPECIALffEECrS 

DCM: Sega initially thought that all 
Dreamcast titles would run at 6ofps. but 
that's not the case for Blue Stinger, is 
it? Why's that? 

SN: We use a refreshment rate of 3ofps. 
We could have used 6ofps, but because 
we wanted to display lots of creatures, 
we had to rethink things. 
DCM: During your time working on 
Dreamcast development* what have you 
found to be its strongest feature? 
SN: The number of polygons it can 
display is important, and there's also the 
lighting effects. It's also very easy to 
develop on Dreamcast; there's good 
support and some good libraries. There 
are also some impressive sound filters. 
DCM: So what kind of lighting effects are 
you using in the game? 
SN: Basically we use two sources of 
light. One is 'Nephilim'[a flying female 
character], who is a moving source of 
light. After that we have the weapon 
effects, and we also have the regular 
map's lights. But for realtime lighting we 
use Nephilim and the weapons. 
DCM: Do you think you're really pushing 
the Dreamcast hardware? 
SN: It's difficult to say. We're not using 
all of its capabilities - for example, weVe 
not using the bump mapping, but we are 
using the lighting features. There are 
always many different ways to use any 
hardware. It's actually very hard to 
answer that particular question. DCM 



^•4 



m 



ER FOUR YEARS AND 20 MILLION DOLLARS. SHEN 
— ^ AIMS TO CHANGE THE WAYYOUPtAir FOR 



^. 



.{■r. r: 



CJt> 





WHArS THE 



lt*s Shenmue. the most 
ambitious (and expen- 
sive) adventure title ever 
created - to the tune of a 
20 miUion dollar devel 
opment budget and four 
years of painstaking 
work by Sega's leg- 
endary AM2 division, 
headed by Yu Suzuki. 

WHY/mGHTIT 



Shenmue has the poten- 
tial to utterly smash the 
mold with its deeply 
immersive environments, 
captivating characters, 
and the ability to convey 
human emotion far 
beyond the means of 
other game before it. 

WMYMiGHTlT 



Shenmue may prove to 
be too ambitious. It 
attempts to etude nearly 
every notion there is of 
what an adventure title 
should be. and. as a 
result, may ultimately 
seem too foreign (and 
even cumbersome) for 
many players to enjoy - 
or comprehend. 



Originally known 
under the working 
title of Project 
Berkeley, Shenmue 
began Its life long 
before Sega man- 
agement introduced Suzuki to its pro- 
posed Dreamcast specifications nearly 
four years ago. Suzuki has said that 
the desire to create an epic adventure 
game had always been with him - he 
just didn't have the canvas on which 
to realize his dream until Dreamcast. 
Each character in Shenmue is con- 
structed from thousands of polygons 
each, down to their individual finger- 
nails and teeth ("kkr- Ed), and its 
some 1,200 rooms and locales are 
exquisitely detailed - carpets have 
individual weaves, cherry trees boast 
thousands of petals, and tiny crea- 
tures scurry about the place, further- 
ing the already immersive atmos- 
phere. Suzuki and crew have also 
painstakingly motion-captured both 
actors and trained martial artists to 
provide the eerily life-like movement 
of Shenmue*s cast. 



realism, along with (drum-roll, please) 
what Suzuki - and more than one 
physicist - refer to as the fourth 
dimension: time. Few games have 
accurately portrayed the passage of 
time, and even fewer have attempted 
to give it influence over gameplay. 
Shenmue aims to do both. From shop 
keeps to key players, characters will 
keep their own schedules, so you'll 
have to learn them - and act accord- 
ingly - in order to accomplish many 
tasks. Ryo Hazuki, the game's central 
character, can also accrue damage 
that will take days (and sometimes 
weeks) to fully heal, thus hampering 
his ability to travel and fight. Of 
course, the passage of time will be 
compressed, so as not to keep you 
laid up in a hospital bed while Ryo's 
recovering, or sitting on a steamer for 
a week to mainland China. Or. for 
example, going slowly insane at the 
Japanese equivalent of the DMV. 



mv- 



I5ARE 



mmi 



Realistic weather (which Is modeled 
from actual data on the game's locales 
over the past 20 years) adds to the 



Sound is an area that has received 
equal attention. An entire symphony 
orchestra has been hired to record the 
game's soundtrack, and some of 
Japan's finest voice actors brought on 
to give believable personalities to over 
a dozen central characters. 



Suzuki proposes to afford players ulti- 
mate freedom by giving them the abili- 
ty to travel to and explore almost 
every area of the game at will, achieve 
many objectives in non-linear fashion, 
speak with any character, and interact 
with countless objects. There will of 
course be a strong plot thread, so as 
to keep you on track toward the ulti- 
mate outcome, but Shemmue is more 
a living, breathing experience than a 
scripted play. 

When searching rooms or manipu- 
lating objects, the game switches to a 
first-person mode. The AM2 staff have 
digitized and motion captured a 
model's hands to create this on- 
screen, and the effect of them rifling 
through cassette tapes, grabbing a 
flashlight, and dialing telephones is 
almost akin to real life. 

Environment and atmosphere 
aside, the true meat of Shenmue will 
be in its four primary gameplay 
modes: Quest, Quick Timer Event, 
Quick Timer Battle, and Free Battle. 

Quest is just about how it sounds; 
explore lavishly-detailed locales and 
achieve numerous goals, whether it be 
to deliver items from one character to 
another, or track down a specific per- 
son who may hold clues to your next 




each of its hundreds of locatfons 
uat signposts. Environments, such 



gty detailed, from the placement of bultdln^ all the way down to mdhrfd 
e. will be rendered in real time by Dreamcast's powerful ^D hardware. 



course of action. This is also where the first-per- 
son mode will come into play - approaching use- 
able objects and entering certain rooms will 
bring your hands into view, giving you a Ryo*s- 
eye perspective and complete control. In Quest 
mode. youMI also have the ability to take part in 
various sub-games within the grander adventure, 
including - but not limited to - part-time jobs 
(youMI need to earn enough money to afford the 
ticket to mainland China) and even re-creations 
of classic AM2 arcade games. 

'^HEOi//C/r&r##EDEAD 

Like Sega's own Die Hard Arcade, QuickTime 
Events and Quick Time Battles require directional 
commands and button presses on your controller 



in accordance with flashing on-screen prompts. 
This form of play will be most often used in the 
game's more elaborate fight sequences, and well 
as mad dashes through city streets, balancing on 
rafters, and other timing sensitive scenarios. 
Free Battle is self-explanatory - you're able to 
take out your aggressions on the bad guys in 
Virtua Fighter-style real-time. In this mode. Ryo 
has the ability to punch, kick, guard, parry, and 
block. 

The end result is an experience totally unlike 
that of any adventure title before it. so much so 
that Suzuki has coined a new term to describe 
his treatment of the genre: FREE, or Full Reactive 
Eyes Entertainment. Or. if you prefer planet 
Earth-speak, it's his hope that, by seamlessly 




ROUN 



SUZUKI 




R&D division, the 

group responsible' 

played arcade titles th« s?de of Pac-Man. 

Shenmue is his first high profile console 

project, and he has lived and breathed i' 

for almost four years now. 

Finest Hour 

AM2 s sempai has conjured up some of 
the coin op world's biggest games 
Space Harrier. Out Run, Daytona USA 
but his crowning achievement is the 
Virtua Fighter sef\es. one which re 
defined the fighting genre with each sub 
sequent installment. 

Don't mention 







g^ 



r-f^^. 




Why? 

It was his first stab at a console RPG. 
and his naivete in the field shone 
through. He subsequently dropped the 
pixies, and got back to more visceral p 



What's next? 

When not been burning the midnight o 
on Shenmue, Suzuki has been seen tin 
kering with his newest arcade racer, the 
Naomi board powered Ferrari fj55. due 




Shenmue's cinematic sequences are produced entirely in realtime so, as Suzuiti is keen to stress, there is never a discernable shift in visual quality between gameplay and story elements 













"'(8 


i^ 


^1 


» ,^ 



II 



integrating these elements, Shenmue will truly 
become the sum of its parts - and if the finished 
product is anywhere as groundbreaking as but 
one of its facets, those 'killer app* pundits will 
not only have their cake, but eat it too. 

By the time you read this. Shenmue will have 
been split up into two chapters, the first of which 
being nearly finished and scheduled for Japanese 



release on August y Sega of America itself has 
confirmed that the game will see stateside 
release in 2000. Whether or not both chapters 
will be integrated for U.S. audiences remains to 
be seen, but one thing is for certain: Shenmue is 
coming, and it may very well change the way we 
play adventure games - and experience them *- 
forever. 



Character interaction within Shenmue's world 
ranges from conversations with town-follt (top 
ISiyto partaking In a game of dice for much- 
trivti money (left). 



FOR 



OUBLE 



DCM HAD AN O^^^HTY TO EXPERIENCE 
SHENMUE'S COWWflTCTEM FIRST HAND AT THE 
RECENT TOKYO GAME SHOW 



Sega set up two rows of Dreamcasts devoted to 
Shenmue at the show, each demonstrating a dif- 
ferent mode of play. Shenmue is unique In that It 
is divided Into a number of different game styles 
- depending on where you are in the game. 
There's the Quick Timer Event mode - where you 
just hit a button and the game does the rest for 
you - in this case, chasing a street punk through 
the maze-like streets of Hong Kong. It feels a lit 
tie like an interactive movie (ulp!), but requires 
fast reflexes and is incredibly cinematic (phew!) 
and offers ample opportunities for Suzuki to 
show off his meticulously created street scenes. 
Mother and baby obstacles, old people carrying 
shopping and workmen • are all positioned to tit- 
eratty trip you up. Atl that's missing, it seems, 

'■ " • " -ly 

across the road with a giant sheet of glass. And. 
of course, a herd of sheep. 

The biggest crowd gathered around the Free 
Battle mode ■ the cause of much consternation 
for journalists when the game was origi — "^ ' 



announced - owing to its absence. For a heart- 
stopping month there, it looked as if all the bat- 
tles would be decided In the Quick Timer Event 
style - merely requiring one or two quick button 
stabs to resolve. But no! Suzuki has taken much 
of what was seen in coin-op hit Spikeout, and 
has included a full Virtua Fighter style battle 
system. 

Wandering through a dimly lit warehouse, 
Ryo is accosted by packs of ruddy-faced bruisers, 
of the A-Team rent-a-goon variety, which can be 
dispatched with a flurry of kicks and sweeps, 
throws and well-limed knees to the groin. After 
kicking about 30 flabby butts, the stage is clear. 
It's a little easy - presumably to make the demo 
accessible to atl, and Like Virtua fighter, the 
brawls are as complicated as you want to make 
them - a lot depends on how skilled you are with 
the controller. Button-mashing gives way to more 
elegantly choreographed encounters as your 
martial arts repertoire grows. It's vintage Suzuki. 






^ ■ early four years in the making. Dreamcast is finally here. 
^^^ The latest in a long line of Sega consoles dating back to 
■ ^B the early i98os-era Master System, it represents the 
convergence of the company's home gaming know-how and 
bleeding edge technology from its four partners In the undertak- 
ing: NEC, Microsoft. Hitachi, and Yamaha. 

Dreamcast has its similarities to past consoles - it still uses 
fiamiliar enough controllers (guess that "VR" craze never quite 
caught on) and its games still come stored on unassuming, albeit 
higher capacity, compact discs. But beneath its pearly white exte- 
rior lies a brave new world of earth-shaking innovations and 
unprecedented possibilities. 

With its Visual Memory Unit (VMU). Sega has given life to the 
decidedly two-dimensional memory card concept. Instead of sim- 
ply storing games on a boring gray piece of plastic, you'll now be 
able to interact with it. Whether exploring dungeons from your 
favorite RPG or tuning up that new race car you just won, it's all 
possible - and while on the go, no less. 



II I I I I I I I I I I I I 



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I I I I I I ' 




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EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW 
ABOUT SEGA'S POWERFUL NEW CONSOLE 

STORY BY: RANDY NELSON 



Dreamcast is also the first internet-ready console, thanks in 
full to its built-in 56k modem. Browsing the web from the comfort 
of your couch is one thing, but how about going head-to-head 
against your loudmouth buddy across town (or the country) in a 
match of Sega Rally 2 to settle that "who's the best driver" bet 
once and for all? And if you lose, you can always blame your six- 
year-old nephew Urkel who "just picked up the controller" while 
you were in the bathroom. 

But it is the capacity to evolve that is perhaps Dreamcast's 
most intriguing facet. More so than any other system before it, 
Dreamcast can accept a myriad of future expansions and 
upgrades. DVD movies in your future? Digital television perhaps? 
Or how about some extra memory to make your games look more 
real than real? Dreamcast can. and will, handle it all. 

In the following pages, we'll give you the lowdown on exactly 
what to expect when Sega welcomes us all to the next level this 
fall. So sit down with our feature and take some quality time to 
get to know your Dreamcast. 



Videogame consoles are ultimately 
the sum of their component parts, 
and in Dreamcast*s case they're stag- 
geringly powerful. Here's a break- 
down of the bleeding-edge silicon 
under the hood of the most techno- 
logically stunning - and damn good- 
looking - game system ever. 




V « 1 





t\ 



lllllllllll 



^r 




FRONT 



A: CONmOLLER PORTS 

No cutting-edge console would be worth its 
salt without more than two controller ports, 
and Dreamcast as it just so happens boasts 
four - perfect for multi-player games. But 
these aren't your average sockets. They can 
send data in two directions, paving the path 
for such advanced peripherals as printers, dig 
ital cameras, or perhaps even a 0| style 
turntable. 



TOP 



B: GD-ROM Drive 

Oreamcast's innovative CD unit runs at 12 times 
the speed of normal CD-ROM drives and boasts 
nearly twice the storage capacity - 1 Gigabyte 
of data in total. This means you'll see lighten- 
ing-fast (or often unnoticeable) load times, and 
won't be swapping discs as often for longer 
and larger games. Of course, it will still ptay all 
of your favorite audio CDs too. 

C: Eject Button 

When pressed, this button makes the 
Dreamcast open wide for insertion of games 
and music CDs. Mind your fingers as the discs 
spin down after playing though - it's nearly like 
a saw blade at i2x speed. 

D: Power Button 

Pressing this magical button will cause 
your system to sprout wings and fly 
around the room frantically, lust kid- 
ding... it just turns the power on. 



By now, youVe probably noticed 
that Dreamcast is missing a reset but- 
ton. To reset your game in progress, 
simply hold down all four action but- 
tons on your controller (A, B, X, and Y) 
and hit Start. Viola! 



BACK 



E: Modem Port 

This port serves dual purposes. Firstly, it's 
where you attach a cord for connecting 
Oreamcast's modem to the phone jack on your 
wall. The modem itself can be removed for 
replacement with a faster model in the future. 
Alternatively, this is also where undisclosed 
future upgrades will connect, sliding in under- 
neath the system and offering their own exten 
sion slot for accommodating the modem. 

f A/VMulti-OutPort 

Here's where your four video output options are 
connected: S-video. composite video, an RFU 
adapter, or the exceedingly high quality VGA 
Box. 

G: Serial Port 

Exact purposes of this smallish port have yet to 
be revealed, but it's likely that Sega's proposed 
Local Area Network adapter (an add-on for set- 
ting up your own multi-system, multiplayer 
games at home) will connect here. 



^ 




n 



A 



Light Gun 

From: Sega 

Prict: Packed-in with Hou^ of 

the Dead 2. %n (^3800) sepa- 

ratelv 

Mmm: Out Now Oapan) 

Coiiip«tlblt Gwntt: House of the 

Dead 2 

It's the Dreamcast Light 
Gun, the most innovative 
videogame blaster in the 
world. Do you feel lucky? 
You should, because its pin- 
point accuracy is second to 
none, and its built-in direc- 
tional pad will undoubtedly 
open up a whole new world 
of possibilities for light gun 
shooters. The least of which 
being the ability to actually 
move around freely inside 
the game world white blast- 
ing away with a "real" gun. 



Keyboard 

FroM: Seta 
Price: $33 O'jaooJ 

Out Now Qapan) 
Hwf i. OflMm 
Pmspoft, WebTV browser 

Surf the web in style - or at 
least a lot more effectively 
than you can with a con- 
troller. Featuring all the keys 
and doodads you'll find on a 
standard computer key- 
board, the Dreamcast key- 
board also boasts a number 
of shortcut keys designed 
specifically to make using 
the system's bundled inter- 
net software easier to navi- 
gate by automate the typing 
of such common things as 
"www" and '.com" for web- 
site addresses. 



T 




Controller 



Compatible Games: 



What you're looking at represents the absolut- 
peal<. of perfection in videogame control - it 
looks great, works great, and is incredibly 
comfortable. Not unlike other modern con- 
trollers, Dreamcast's boasts two control pads, 
one analog and one digital. Four action but- 
tons grace its face, accompanied by two fully 
analog shoulder buttons. What make 

ist's pad extra-special, however, are its 
Msion slots The topmost one is 
■ MVMw*. J primarily for holding a VMU: the 
lower one. while it can hold a VMU as well, will 
most often be where you'll slap in a Puru Puru 
ick for force feedback effects. 




i 



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1 i 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 i 1 i i 



v ' i'iyViV. '. ' . 'iiv 

ill I I I I I I ill 



II II I- I ITTT 



^ 




Visual Memory Unit 
(VMU) 

From; Sega 
Prko: $33 (V3800) 
Reltast: Out Now (Japan) 
CompatlMt GamM: All 

Dreamcast's most unique 
peripheral, the VMU is more 
like a smallish hand-held 
game system than a memo- 
ry card, although it can be 
used for saving game data 
(128 blocks worth in all). 
Central to the VMU's 
remarkableness are its 
diminutive LCD screen, con- 
trol pad, and action buttons, 
which enable you to orga- 
nize data, and. more impor- 
tantly, play mini-games that 
can be downloaded from 
many Dreamcast titles. 



Arcade Stkr 

From; Sega 
Prke: $50 (V^8oo) 
Release: Out Now Oapan) 
Compatible Games: Virtua 
Fighter jtb. Power Stone, Marvel 
vs.Capcom 

For true arcade-style con- 
trol, there's no substitute for 
having an actual arcade con- 
troller - or, in this case, 
something incredibly close. 
Modeled after Sega's own 
arcade cabinets, such as the 
one used for Virtua Fighter 
3. the Arcade Stick is as 
close as you'll get to the real 
thing without buying a 
$3.ooo coin-op unit. It's also 
especially heavy, with a nice 
weighted, metal base, and 
features a built-in VMU slot. 



T 





SONIC4l>I^IV7Z/iZE 



B ^ ^ith a distinctly Gen Xatti- 
Um^M ^"^^ ^"^ ^ talent for 
WmWw hurtling through side* 
^ ^ scrolling space at the speed 
of tight, Sonic has gone on to capture 
the imagination of millions around the 
globe* joining the ranks of Mario and 
recently inducted Crash Bandicoot as 
having one of the most recognizable 
mugs in videogames. With the launch of 
Dreamcast in japan, hishedgehogness 
has arrived in style for his first truly 3D 
outing. As startling a change as this may 
be for a series so firmly entrenched in 
side-scrolling 

ideology, the result is a visually stunning 
experience with some equally amazing 
gameplay. 



Under the direction of series creator 
Yuji Naka. Sonic Adventure gets off to a 
blazingly fast and fabulously familiar 
start. All of the quintessential "Sonic" 
elements are intact, as a run-through of 
the first stage. Emerald Coast, confirms: 
gold rings to collect, cute enemies to 
bonk on the head, red bumpers that 
launch you into orbit, the super-spin 
dash, and most importantly, tear-induc- 
ing speed- and it's all in beautiful 3D. 

Right away you know youVe entered 
a new world of gaming, full to bursting 
point with silky-smooth animation, 
incredibly realistic scenery and flawlessly 
designed levels. Sonic has indeed come 
a long way since the Genesis. From the 
visual depth of each environment to the 



subtle animations of all the objects on 
each screen, this game must be seen to 
be believed. 

Sporting bright, colorful textures and 
completely smooth 3D polygons, each of 
the six playable characters in the game 
are rendered with crystal clarity (get to 
know the different characters on page 
26) and the stages are equally impres- 
sive looking. 

Each consists of three essential ele- 
ments. There's the exploration parts, 
where Sonic runs around looking for 
shortcuts and secret areas (of which 
there are many) and - most impressive 
from a speed standpoint - the gravity- 
defying tracks that house super-speed 
launch pads that rocket the blue fella 




HEMJM^^ 



The most t>asic move in the 
book, Sonic'S jump move has 
been enhanced to help him navi- 
gate the brave new world of 3D. 
Jumping by pressing X. then 
pressing jump again at the 
height of Sonic'S leap allows him 
to do one of two things: home in 
on the nearest enemy for a good 
bashing or jump dash to cover a 
greater distance more quickly. 



Sonic*s dash move is little more 
than a way to get around town 
or stages more quickly. Pressing 
and holding the B or X button 
powers up your dash. Releasing 
It sets you on your way. Only 
until you get a hold of the Super 
Spin dash will this move be of 
any real use against enemies or 
in specific environments. 



After Sonic picks up his first 
upgrade, the super speed 
shoes, he's then able to really 
pack a punch with his Super 
Spin Dash with the B or X but- 
ton. With each upgrade, Sonic's 
spindash will become more use- 
ful in the action stages by allow- 
ing you to power up and cross 
large gaps in the ground by fly- 
ing over them in a straight line. 



HEC>L.,wi..581UFn 



An ability only accessible to 
Sonic during the adventure seg- 
ments of the game, you'll need 
to carry things like keys from 
one area to another in order 
with the Y button to unlock new 
stages. This skill shows Sonic's 
increased interaction with his 
surroundings and even lets him 
cuddle a bit with his Chaos. Is 
this really a good thing? 



DEVELOPCR: 

Sonic Team 
PUBUSHER: 
Sega 
ESSeMnMLB 

VMS: Yes 
Players: 1 
Online: No 
Peripherals: VMS, 
Puru Puru Pock 
ESRB: E 
Origin: Japan 



V 



Price: 5800 yen 




2S 



r 



WHO'SIVHO 




t>x2g^ ^^TAILS 



AblUtlat: Flying and racing different characters 

through each level 

Goals: Finding short-cuts to outrun opponents 

B«t lav«l: Emerald Coast or Sky Deck 

If ht wart a Shnpaons charadar, lia*d bt: 

MflhouseVanHouten 



wm 



^KNUCKLES 



(: Echidna. An anteater with a single ori- 
fice for expelling waste and fluid. Ick. 
Digging, climbing and gliding 
(: Find hidden locations of Emerald pieces 
in each level and make a whole gem. 
BasI IcvaC: Casinopolis 
Simpson's countarpait: Nelson Muntz 



wm 



AMY 

Hedgehog 

: Double jump w/hammer blow. 
Outrun Eggman's robot through levels 
equipped with her glorious Hammer of Love. 
No, seriously... 

Bast laval: Twinkle Park or Hot Shelter 
Simpaons counteqMit: Jessica Lovejoy 




BIG THE CAT 

Take a big fat guess 
: Very few. Fishing, if you must know 
(: The obligatory "fishing element" in every 
Japanese game. Fish to rescue his pet frog 
Boat Icval: Hot Shelter 
SiMpsons counterpart: Barney Gumble 




E-102r 

Sentry Robot 

: Super IMulti-targeting Blast 
t: Save as many animals as possible from 
each level, while destroying evil sentry robots 
all under a time limit 
Boat lawal: Red Mountain 
SiMpsons counterpart: Professor Frink 
KM CMMtorpwt: Randy Nelson 



SUPERSONIC 




AMUtlas: Invincibility 

Goals: Destroy Perfect Chaos and amass rings to 

maintain super powers 






V. 



J 




(Top) Sonic gathers with Knuckles, Tails and Amy in a special ending to take down 
Perfect Chaos. Bring on Super Sonic! (Right) E-io2 takes a stroll around town; (cen- 
ter) Frog-catching in Emerald Coast; (bottom) Tikal. the Chaos Emerald guardian 



along like a bullet train. For a change of pace, there are 
also a number of sub-games that range from snow- 
boarding, to pjnball simulations (guess who's the ball?) 
to a "whack-a-Mole-type game with Amy. Even when 
youVe completed a stage, you can always play it again 
another way to get just a little more out of it. 

The level design is further enhanced by certain 
moments of blissful spectacle. From a killer whale 
chase in Emerald Coast to Wind Valley's dizzying torna- 
do, complete with a vortex of brilliantly rendered 
leaves. Sonic Adventure wields flash and function with 
equal skill. 

TQffOI.DI.rQO 

While stellar visuals go hand in hand with introducing 
Sonic to a more powerful system in Dreamcast, the 
gameplay in Sonic Adventure also takes a bold leap in 
a new direction as well. Sonic not only receives the gift 
of gab (with full voice tracks), but he's also able to use 
his newfound voice on the characters roaming the fic- 
tional metropolis. Station Square. Here you're required 
to interact with other characters, read signposts and 
carry out minor tasks in order to progress. In fact, a 
good bulk of the challenge within the game is finding 




each of the 

level entrances 

hidden 

throughout 

Station Square. 

You'll need to 

complete the 

levels in a specific order to access each successive 

stage, giving the game a strictly linear structure. 

CHAOTIME 

But Station Square isn't just for seeking out new 
stages. You'll also be able to visit the Chao Gardens. 
where you can participate in the raising, breeding and 
training of the Tamagotchi-style Chaos. Think of it as an 
introduction to virtual pet sims, Sonic-style. (More on 
Chaos in the sidebar "Chao Baby' on page X)(X). 

Controlling Sonic in his 3D universe is surprisingly 
smooth allowing you to get a good grasp on navigating 
both depth and direction without any problems. The 
layout of each level takes the pressure off the controls 
by defining the actual room you have to move around. 
By using elements such as water, lava or umpteen mile 
drops to surround limited areas, you'll have a good 




Emerald Coast, your starting point In Sank Advtniun, is a showcase piece with plenty of dazzling sights and breakneck sp e e d. 



26 




CHAOBABY! 

Not only will these little creatures give 
you hours of love and entertain 
ment, they'll also give you a 
damn good reason to use your 
VMU.lt can be a bit tricky- so 
here's a mini-guide to parent - 



7 How do I get started? 
First, you must f1fi4 some eggs. 
There are two pastel -colored ones sitting in the 
Chao Garden in Station 
Square that can be I 



» • - 11 



^ How do I hatch 
eggs? 

Very carefully. Chaos | 

are very sensitive to 

your actions, so it's best to avoid dropping or 
throwing an egg. Hatch it nice and slow by first 
picking it up with the Y button, then holding the 
button down and pressing any direction on the ana- 
log stick. You'll begin caressing the egg, coaxing 
out the Chao. Once you set it back on the ground, it 
wilihatch. 

Y What should I do with it once it hatches? 
Pay close attention to how it acts each time you 
visit. At this early stage in a Chao's life, you can 
assimilate different animals with it. This can be 
done by freeing some of Robotnik's animal slaves 
in different stages then returning to a Chaos 
Garden. The animals will automatically be freed 
into the area and you 

can then pick one up i mw 

and bring it near a ^^^^ 

Chao. The Chao will 
then nuzzle the animal, 
delightedly, and possi- ^ 

bly take on some of its 

characteristics (so best 

to avoid to close associ- 
ations with , say. Echidnas...). You can also feed 
your Chaos by shaking down coconuts from the 
trees In the garden. 

' Can you mate Chaos in the gardens or only on 
•he VMU? 
You can mate them anywhere, but preferably not in 
public. Set two adults next to one another in order 
to let them get started and if successful, they'll 
produce an egg! 

~ I What can you do with the VMU in all of this? 
Train, train, train! By moving a Chao to your VMU, 
you can participate in a number of games that will 
boost your Chao's stats . The mini-quest will 
improve your Chao's abilities so it can win in the 
Chao Races. 



Sonic Advtnturc managts to Indudt not 
ont... not two... but countltss of thost 
elushrt "gaming momtnts.** 



idea as to where you can or can't 
go. But. you also never feel too 
restricted when roaming. Each 
environment succeeds in feeling 
incredibly open, whether your red- 
sneakered feet are zipping along a 
set track as Sonic or you're fishing 
in a pond as Big the Cat. 

While some gamers may have a 
distaste for the speed-factor in Sonic 
games, claiming that it feels too much like you're being 
led around by the snout, rather than forcing you to use 
any real skill, the speed segments in Sonic Adventure 
avoid feeling too scripted. Level designs are paced well 
and include enough variety to neatly sidestep this prob- 
lem. 

CAUGHTO/VCAMERA 

The same cannot be said for the game's camera. 
Nicknamed "Gammy" around the office, the camera sys- 
tem has a bad habit of taking on a life of its own at 
times. Due to the speed of Sonic himself, you'll find 
Gammy lagging behind or getting stuck at the most 
annoying angles. Not just annoying, the experience can 
leave you disoriented. Imagine cruising along, collecting 
rings on a steel platform - next, you're staring, bald- 
faced at the backside texture of a wall with absolutely 
no idea where you are or where the hedgehog has gone 
off to. Imagine if this kind of thing happened in the 
movies. You're watching the T-Rex approach the 
upturned jeep in Jurassic Park, when suddenly the cam- 
era gets stuck behind a giant green fern with a tiny bee- 
tle on it. And the camera stays there until the scene 
ends. Aargh! 

While this doesn't happen too frequently, some 
stages seem worse off than others (cough... Sky Deck... 
cough... Emerald Goast). Though the problem is forgiv- 




Dramatlc camera angles work both for and against Sonic Adventure. Thankfully, itil 
be **ooh'^,** not "aarghs" that you'll find yourself saying more often than not 



able in the face of the game's abundant strengths, it's 
lucky for us US gamers that the cameras are being 
corrected for the domestic release. 

BUGGINOI/r 

But the camera problem also highlights another of the 
game's few (but significant) weaknesses: bugs. Clipping 
through certain corners in the environment (parts of the 
scenery suddenly disappear and then re-appear without 
warning), as well as some rather dodgy collision detec- 
tion take a little of the shine off the otherwise gleaming 
surface of Sonic Adventure. To be absolutely bowled 
over by the beauty of a waterfall one moment, then 
falling through a wall for no reason to an untimely death 
the next, is sure to spoil the mood. Once again, you'll be 
relieved to know that this will all be corrected for the US 
release. 

Despite these problems, however. Sonic succeeds in 
delivering a fast, furious rollercoaster ride with enough 
depth and beauty to dazzle even the most jaded gamer. 
It's not the only reason to buy a Dreamcast, but it's a 
damn convincing one. 



FkANCESCA RSYiS 



# -Brilliant tov«l ctoslgns 
9 'Baaiitlful graiililcs 



O •"Cwnmy's** flekis liahavlor 

O -Buggy araas datraet from gamaptay 



8 



27 



DREAMCASTO/VI/yVE 




GETI7£>IDy/ 

DREAMCAST GIVES YOU THE WORLD! 



ikes it easier thai 



Dreamcdst's built in modem makes it easier than part in massively multiplayer online games. DL 

ever to access the internet, whether it be to send e- Nation is your monthly guide to not only DCM's web 

mail, browse the world-wide web. or. best of all, take site, but all things Dreamcast online. 



• 3 - ^ - ■ « I 

Ca»A7=»5«9B 
BATTLE TMH llMMttT 






ONUNE 

Stga^ orlfinal online Mnrkt. Drfcu (top Itft). vvont llvt in 
Novtfflbcr 1998 and serves as a one-stop Information source 
for Japanese Dreamcast owners. In addition to dally news and 
chat, the sHe offers some more unique features, such as Mall 
Chum (top right), a digital postcard service of sorts. 



K 



EMO 



$9ge Rally 2 isn't {ust the first online-corn- 
patibie Dreamcast game on the block - it's also DCM's 
currtnt favorite. Few things compare to going head-to- 
haad against thrao friends (or complett strrngtrs) for 
some of the most thrilt-pacl(ed racing avaNaMe any- 
where. 

In only a few short minutes, you can be up and racing 
online too. Simply start the game, select the 'Network 
Race* option from the main menu, and enter the name 
you'd like to appear above your car whiU racing. Salect 
'conntct' and youll be zipped off to Soga^ facing ftrvar 
and plopped Into a ctiat room. (Sounds kinda painful - 
id) 

Here you can talk to other wrould-be racers and sd up 
a match. Highlight your three virtual opponents using the 
controller and select 'race.' Don't worry if you suck - you 
can brush up on your racing skills by following 
our in-depth strategy guide that starts on page 
30. 



ce: YsSon (550) 
veloper: Sega 

Publisher: Soga 

Origin: l.ipcifi 

Online: Y» s 

Multiplayer: Yes 

Peripherals: VMU. 
"facing Wheel 



i^^^^^H 


^^^^^^^^H 


^ 


B' 0/ 1 
ft 90 9 


m 


Jo r» i 


"IT 


•"- 


\ 'i^y-mff^^ 



QEJ WIRED! 

JACK IN 

Unlike the movies, plugging the phone 
jack directly into the back of your 
head won't work. It may also hurt. A 
lot. Instead, use the modular phone 
cord provided with your Dreamcast to 
connect its modem to an open phone 
jack, using a splitter (available at most 
electronics stores) if necessary. 

I SIGN UP 

Pop the Dream Passport disc in and 
power up your machine. Select 
'Getting Started.' fill out all the 
required fields, and your system will 
connect to Sega's toll-free server and 
register itself, as if by magic. 

LCX3 0N 

Now you're ready to go online for the 
first time. From Dream Pa'isport's 
main menu, select the 'connect' 
option, and your system will dial into 



the browser window will open and you 
can start exploring the net. A whole 
world of educational information will 
then become available to you. That 
.ind 200 fan sites devoted to Pamela 
Anderson Lee's 'considerable talents. 



DREAMCASTO/V/.//VE101 



WORLD WIDE 
WHAT? 

Unless you stopped 
keeping up with cur- 
rent events around the 
same time Walt Disney 
did. you should 
already know what the 
World Wide Web is. 
just in case you don't. 
It's a network of web 
'sites,' each comprised 
of 'pages.' On these 



movies, information 
some relating to 
videogames and some 
not. It's basically the 
internet. What's that? 



TWO WAYS 
TO BROWSE 




getting around is via 
Sega's Dream Passport 
software, which was 
included with your 
Dreamcast system. It 



sary features for 
accessing websites, 
viewing pictures, 
watching movies, and 
downloading VMU pro 
grams. Once more, 
Hollywood has duped 



you. Unlike the 
movies, surfing the 
web does not involvr 
lots of world maps, or 
'hackers* playing cat 
and mouse games 
with clumsy Feds. And 
everything takes ages. 



An alternative to 
Dream Passport, 
Microsoft's WebTV 
software must be pur 
chased separately, but 
simplifies the web 
browsing process by 



easier-to use interface. 
Everything still takes 
ages though. 

IN TOUCH 

Both browsers also 
provide access to 
three other key areas 
of the internet: E-mail, 
newsgroups, and chat. 
E-mail lets you 
exchange private mes- 
sages with others, 
newsgroups (also 
known as 'message 
boards') are forums for 
posting public mes 
sages, and chat lets 
you interact with hun 
dreds of other people 



CONNECTING TO THE OFFICIAL SEGA 
DREAMCAST MAGAZINE SITE 



After a rousing online multi-player 
bout of Sega Rally 2, make a bee- 
line over to DCM's online hiome ^» 
www.dreamcastmagazine.com 
Featuring live events, special 
online-only features, and a great 
means to interact witfi your fellow 
Dreamcast owners, our site is the 
ultimate online resource 
Dreamcast-related information. 



^r 



www.dreamcastmagazine.com 



ONLINE CONTEST 

Simply head over to our site 
and upload your best Seffo 
Ratty 2 times, and we'll com- 
pare them against those of 
your fellow readers. If you're 
good enough, you {ust might be 
able to pull away from the pacit 
and win the ultimate prize, a 
Subaru Impreza ss5 of your 
very own. No. wait! Heck, it's 
the dummy issue - for one 
month only, the prize for the 
fastest Sega ftatty 2 lap time 
is... the planet Mars! 




PROFILE 

^^LIVEI 

'■^^k bvery m 

■ ^^L event 

■ ^r behinc 
y B ting-ed 

\ 


■'.LIVE 

MONTHLY CHATS WITH C 

onth, DCM hosts a live online Blue Stim 
eaturing the personalities our site t 
J Dreamcast's games and cut- his thoug 
ge technology. This month, 

X 1/ 1 » r. n 


)REAMCAST CELEBRITIE 

ger creator Shinya Nishigaki will be live on 
3 answer questions, take feedback, and gi\ 
hts on Dreamcast and gaming in general. 

1 ■ . « 


s 


















BOOKIVIARKS 

FREE DOWNLOADS AND UP-TO-THE-MINUTE NEWS 

Now here's a great idea. Dreamfiles.com allows you Also on our hot list this month is 

to download ready-to-go save games for the VMU. web's premiere fan-operated Ore 

Can't seem to unlock that secret character in Power interviews, reviews, previews, co 

Stone? Chances are that they have and the save is on it's a site that every Sega fan she 

the site. Check it out at vvww.dre.imfilps.com. bookmark cache. Visit them at 



Also on our hot list this month is Sega X, one of the 
web's premiere fan-operated Dreamcast sites. With 
interviews, reviews, previews, codes, and daily news, 
it's a site that every Sega fan should have in their 
bookmark cache. Visit them at 



BALLOTfiOX 

HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR 
MONTHLY ONLINE POLL 

Want to be heard? DCM's website gives you a 
chance to voice your opinions in our monthly poll. 
Last month, we posed the question: 'What game are 
you most looking forward to on Dreamcast?' and 
'Life: What's the point?' 



CODE VERONICA 
12% 



SONIC ADVENTURE 
22% 




Your overwhelming response would put a smile on 
Yu Suzuki's face. Shenmue dominated the poll as 
the most anticipated title in Dreamcast's upcoming 
lineup. As for the other question... 

This month, we want to know what Genesis or 
Saturn title you think deserves a Dreamcast update. 
From Phantasy Starto Guardian Heroes, there are 
plenty to choose from. Give us your two cents at the 
DCM site and we'll nost the results next issue. 




SIEPONE: LEARN. ^ SLIDE 

rowt'f sliilt's tiHtof tuMvily in itijstrf my; Sego /?fl//y 2 Hie most 
( rucial thing to remt^mber is the timing of braking and accelera 
tion. For optimal cornering, you'll need to keep as close to the 
inside of the turn as possible as you enter it. tap everso slightly 



on the brake, and then point your car a little further than the turn 
in order to slide 'out and around.* Pressing the accelerator while 
midway through the turn will keep your car from sliding out too 



SIEPTWO: CUSTOMIZE YUUHCAR 

Yuut hi >t stt'p should be to lxpliimic:!: ...: . :: i .arious car settings to determini 
which ones are right for each course, using the test run option to fine tune them 
as necessary before the race. Two fundamental changes should always be made, 
however: tires and gear ratio. You'll find that a low gear ratio (two clicks down 
from norm.il) usually yields the best results, and you'll want to select 'wet' or 'wi 



'gravel' whenever the 



We whole heartedly recommend sticking with 
automatic shifting until you've gotten cornering 
tiown pat. Once you have, manual transmission 
tan yield significant increases in acceleration ofl 
the st.utine line and after tieht turns. 




SJEPTHREE: flNDTHESECREJ yllNt-GAME! 



Liitet Arcade Champ 
As you approach the 



le race as usua 



before the secoiii 
tint! alone the lefl 



both over and you' 



lear a tone to 



im to the right to fine 
't course entrance is 




'ga Rally 2 uses the V 



a driver name, chat with some pals 



Enter the foUowirigcdites fn 
at the title screen. Use the 
digital Dpad and action 
buttons in order to enter one. 



To unlock all cars, enter: 
UP. DOWN. UP. B. A, LEFT, B, 
B. DOWN 

To complete the lo Year 
Championship Mode, enter: 
UP, LEFT. DOWN. RIGHT, B, A, 
B. RIGHT. DOWN 



Tor 30 Frames per Second. 

enter: 

UP,A. DOWN, DOWN. LEFT. 

RIGHT. B. B. UP 

For 60 Frames per Second, 

enter: 

UP. A. DOWN. DOWN. LEFT. 

RIGHT. B. B, DOWN 

If you enter the code correctly, 
you'M hear a tone afterwards. 



I more than simply saving high scores to plan your strategy, and hit the track! 

- it stores everything from unlocked 

cars to season statistics to entire 

race replays on the device, so make 

sure you have one slapped into your 

controller before playing. If not, -J qq qjj 

there's a handy menu that makes saving "0 19 951 

and loading crucial data a snap. -^ , 

Online support for the game includes Tfcw^ >» 

uploading your best times to Sega's web ^*^ y, ' 

site, and a superb four-player network 
competition mode complete with chat 
capabilities for setting up races. Simply 




UNLOCK EVERY CAR 



TRACKS 



DESERT 

Quick Tip: It's a good 
idea to adjust your tires 
to accommodate for the 
mud slicks that you'll 
undoubtedly splash 
through on your way to 
first place. , — 



MOUNTAIN 

Quick Tip: Alternating 
between asphalt and 
mud, the Mountain track 
demands a good set of 
tires to combat both sur- 
face conditions. 



RIVIERA 

Quick tip: With its tight 
turns and nighttime 
lighting, Riviera can 
prove to be a racer's 
undoing. Try using a bet- 
ter handling car for your 
first run-through and 
adjusting braking and 
turning. 



SNOWY 

Quick tip: Adjust the tire 
type to snow/ice and 
lower your gears in 
order to get the maxi- 
mum handling on Snowy 
track. Take your turns a 
little earlier to start slid- 
ing earlier. 



"^^H^Wr 




\ ---J- Skill level: Morgan Freeman in 

Driving Mi^^ Daisy. No. wail I his iv 
prelty basic slutf. If you tan win Year 
1 you're probably Miss Daisy or ■ 

maybe just her dog. Keep working... J 





- <f|^ Skilllevel: William Shatner in 

^^ TJ.Hookef. Driven around by the 

heavily blow dried Romano, you still 

I need help geltmg out of the car- and 

durmg the rate, you're actually 
replaced by a stunt double several hundred pounds 
lighter. With a beard. 



Skill Level: That guy from Di/**/. -*- - 

You're making 
progress, but you 

look terrified. Chill I — 

out. Take a load 

off. Relax. And try to ignore that 16 wl 

er in the next lane. 




Skill Level: David 1_ 
Hasslehoff in 

Knight Rider. Man and slightly effeminate 
-machine in perfect harmony. You lose points for not doing 
your own driving though, for talking to your dash, and fof 
needing rescuing every episode by a Trans Am. 



Skill level: Owood Blues. Now 

you're getting the hang of it. You can 
do the shopping mall without ever 
leaving your car. 



Level: Burt Reynolds in 

key and the Bandit. Getting 
faster. Whenever you're chased by a 
tialfic cop, you tan be sure he'll 
wind up in a dutk pond, and then, mom 
ously pick a small fish out of his pants. 



Skill Level: Speed Racer. You're 




thimpan/ee and little kid hiding m 

your trunk. You let opponents get 

right up on your bumper, then launch suddenly into the ail 

as they hurtle unwittingly into the ravine ahead. 



Skill Level: Mad Max. Nothing phas 

es you. You've mastered the art of 

aggressive driving. |ust remembei I — 

what you did to the gas tank before 

you try to (ill up, or your season may be prematurely over. 





Skill Level: Steve McQueen in 
Bullitt. You solve the murder, get the 
girl, the sideburns, and permission 
to never ever smile... ever. 




Skill Level: Bo and Luke 
Duke. You can drive 
! — I pretty good, but you 
stupidly welded 

the doors shut and took out the windows. 

What if it rains, eh? What then? Fools! 




Drcamcast 90210? Oh God. no 




WELCOME... 



....To the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine- dedicated to the most power- 
ful and exciting videogames console in the world. Armed with a laSbit 
graphics engine and a modem that will allow you to surf the internet, play 
massively multiplayer games and even e-mail your buddies- Sega 
Dreamcast is in every way a next generation entertainment platform. 

It deserves a next generation magazine. 

Like the system, we're ahead of the game. Dedicated to bringing you the 
complete world of Dreamcast every issue, our promise to you Is that we will 
woric tirelessly for the biggest exclusives- never flinching from aslcing the 
tough questions and never ever taking the PR line. We promise to furnish 
you with only the very best demos on our exclusive GD-ROM so that you can 
play before you pay and in our reviews we aim to set a new standard. 

We will never review a game until it's completely finished. And when it 
arrives in the office- we won't score it until we've played the whole thing 
through- from the start menu to the end sequence. 

But we're official, so we can't say what we want, right? Wrong. This maga- 
zine carries the official license from Sega because that's the best way to 
give you, the reader, the best value every issue. It means we can provide you 
with a disc full of free demos and uninhibited access to Sega's legendary 
and world-class development studios, it gives us the back-stage pass- and 
that's better for you. But the door only swings one way. Sega has absolute- 
ly no say in the content of this magazine. We are editorially independent- 
beholden to no-one. We answer only to you. 

So once again- welcome. Enjoy this sneak preview and join with us in look- 
ing forward to Septmeber, when the world's most powerful console hits the 
stores* coincidentally enough, just in time for Issue One. Looks like 
Christmas is coming early... 



Simon Cox 
Editor In Chief
Internet Archive Audio

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Full text of "Official Dreamcast Magazine, The - Issue 00 (1999-06)(Imagine Publishing)(US)"

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